Imperfectly Mine
by Dinnerroll
Summary: No one’s perfect. But Caleb and Rachel seem to be imperfectly perfect for each other. But of course, fate won’t let them be together that easily. CalebOC
1. Someone New

Imperfectly Mine

Rating: PG-13 or T just to be safe

Summary: No one's perfect. But Caleb and Rachel seem to be imperfectly perfect for each other. But of course, fate won't let them be together that easily. Caleb/OC

Disclaimer: Neither The Covenant, nor any character mentioned in The Covenant belong to me. I'd take Caleb Danvers in a heart beat, but sadly he's not mine.

Chapter One: Someone New 

"Hey Caleb!" Caleb Danvers, also known as the leader and oldest Son of Ipswich, smiled politely at the group of girls currently drooling over him but continued walking to his seat. As usual, he could always rely on his friend's being nothing but kind and supportive of him.

"Oh hell. Of course Lord and Master Caleb of all that is perfect in the world is single and now every single girl in this whole damn school is fighting for him." Reid Garwin would do anything to make Caleb feel like a million dollars. "And what does Caleb do?"

Tyler Simms, the youngest Son of Ipswich, scratched his head, deep in thought. "He has a mutual break-up with a girl, still maintains a great image that all the ladies love, but doesn't do anything about all the ladies fighting over him?"

"Ding, ding, fucking ding!" Reid and Tyler did a mock high-five, while their other friend, Pogue Parry, did his own part to be supportive.

"Hey now guys, let's be fair. Just because Caleb respects the ladies doesn't mean he hasn't had some fun with them…oh wait…that's right…Caleb's still a vir-"

Reid groaned and made a move to grab his chest in pain. "I can't believe you still haven't experienced the greatest experience someone can experience!"

"You just abused that word completely." Tyler smacked him upside his head.

Caleb just shrugged. "So I want to wait. Big deal. My experience will just be that much more amazing than yours."

"Hey hey hey I will have you know that I am a beast in the bedroom!" Pogue just shook his head in disbelief.

"He didn't mean that he's better than us Reid. He means that his first time will be more…"

The three youngest boys weren't even sure there was a word to use. They knew that Caleb was missing out by not having sex, but they still respected his choice completely. Caleb had always been the kind of guy any girl would kill to have; respect and chivalry was definitely still alive. And it had manifested itself solely in Caleb Danvers.

As the class lecture began, the boys handled their professor's lecture in the same way they always did; Pogue was busy writing notes back and forth with his girlfriend Kate, Tyler was working on his assignment that was due next class, and Reid was, predictably, sound asleep. Caleb was the only Son of Ipswich paying attention to the lecture, which was the main reason he had the best grades out of the four of them.

"Mr. Garwin!" Reid's head snapped up as soon as the words left the professor's mouth. "Tell me one play written by William Shakespeare and I won't fail you this semester."

Reid's mouth hung open. _Shakespeare…Shakespeare…he's that old dead guy that wrote with weird English that only Caleb could really understand. Damn, why does stupid Caleb have everything so easy? Ok think man. Wasn't that one movie based on something Shakespeare wrote? Shit._

"Uhh…I'm going to use my lifeline here. Caleb?"

Caleb just rolled his eyes, but turned to look at his friend anyway. "Romeo & Juliet, McBeth, Hamlet, Twelfth Night…"

"Obviously Shakespeare was the writer of such stuff as Romeo & Juliet, Mc…McHamlet, Beth, something about a night…" 

The whole class started laughing, despite the fact that Reid's lack of knowledge of what they were just discussing was nothing new. The professor shook his head, but still had a smile on his face.

"It might be wise for you, Mr. Simms and Mr. Parry to offer to do Mr. Danvers's laundry the week before finals. Otherwise you might not be able to come close to passing this class without his help."

The class all chuckled, and a few girls murmured different things about doing Caleb's laundry.

Before the whole class could get back into the swing of the lecture-or whatever else they do during the lecture-there was a light and almost graceful knock at the door. The professor allowed for the guest to enter, and once the door opened, the entire male population held their breath while the entire female population glared.

"Hi, I'm Rachel Vaugier, I apologize for being so late and interrupting, but I just transferred and I'm still trying to find my way around. Again, I'm very sorry sir."

The professor merely shook his head. "Not at all, welcome to English Literature. Please, take a seat, we're merely discussing William Shakespeare's affect on current literature." 

Rachel smiled politely and took a seat in the back while every guy stared. Rachel definitely wasn't like any other girl in the room. She had a very fair complexion with a cute round face. Her eyes were a very dark brown, which matched her hair perfectly. Her hair was a little above her shoulders and was cut with very choppy layers that outlined her face, flipping in and out. She wasn't very tall, 5'4" at the very tallest, but her frame fit her height perfectly; very curvy hourglass figure with perfect muscle tone. Her smile seemed to brighten up her whole face and make her look even more beautiful...if that was possible.

No wonder every guy was staring while all the girls shot death glares at her. Rachel just politely smiled at the class, then quickly broke eye contact and started getting out supplies for class. She'd obviously dealt with that kind of attention before.

"Damn she's hot." Reid nudged all the guys as if they hadn't noticed.

"She is really pretty." Tyler kept his eyes peeled on her the whole time.

Pogue shrugged. "I still prefer Kate, but I agree, she is a good-looking girl." The two Youngest Sons of Ipswich couldn't stop whispering about the new girl.

"Hey baby. Looking for a good time tonight? I'd be glad to welcome you to the neighborhood with one hell of a party!" Aaron Abbot could always be counted on for being the pig he was.

Rachel smiled shyly and tucked her hair behind one ear. "Thanks, but I'd much rather be studying Shakespeare right now."

A collective amounts of 'ohhhs' filtered around while Aaron's smile turned into a rather rude glare. "Great, we've got another cold-hearted lesbian at this school now."

Caleb finally spoke up. "I think her rejection means that we have someone with a brain at this school. Stop being such a prick and leave her alone."

Aaron turned his attention to Caleb. "What's with you and all the newbies around here, huh Danvers? Scared to go after anyone who's been here long enough to actually realize how unperfect you are?"

Rachel laughed. "It's imperfect, not unperfect. And while I've only been in this room for about 3 minutes now, I'd have to say unless half the girls in here are newbies, then Mr. Danvers must be as perfect as he originally comes off."

Aaron and the rest of the male population listening scanned the room and realized half the girls were in fact staring straight at Caleb. Aaron opened his mouth, shut it, opened it again, and once again shut it. "Whatever."

Caleb snickered as he turned to meet Rachel's eye. She smiled shyly, tucked her hair behind her ear again, and looked back at the professor. Caleb couldn't fight the smile emerging on his face if he had even tried.

The bell, after what felt like hours to everyone in the room, finally sounded and the students began filing out of the room. Pogue moved over to give Kate a kiss as they headed toward the door with the other guys. Caleb was bringing up the rear, and tried filing out of the door just as Rachel made her way to exit, seemingly in a rush, causing the two to collide and get slightly stuck in the doorway.

"I'm so sorry about that." Rachel seemed to be beating herself up in her head, while Caleb just backed up into the classroom, allowing her room to leave first.

"Don't worry about it at all. These doors are way too small anyways." Rachel gave him a big smile, one that was returned back to her. "In a rush?" 

"Yeah, I'm really sorry. This school is so much bigger than my previous one, I'm still struggling to find all my classes."

"Where are you at next, one of us could probably walk you there or at least part of the way?" Reid and Tyler both got excited about escorting a beautiful girl to class.

"Um, I have Chemistry 101 in room 214." Reid and Tyler both groaned out loud, causing Rachel to look over at them confused.

Caleb just chuckled. "They're just mad because they're on the opposite side of the building which means they don't have time to walk you to your class." Rachel couldn't help but blush. "Room 214 is actually very close to Kate's next class, maybe you could take her?" Kate smiled and nodded.

Caleb smiled at Kate, then laughed when he realized Rachel didn't even know any of their names. "I'm Caleb Danvers by the way. This is Pogue Parry, his girlfriend Kate Tunney, Reid Garwin, and Tyler Simms."

Alex smiled at each of them as Caleb went through their names. "I'm Rachel Vaugier. It's really nice to meet all of you. I realize everyone says that when they first meet someone unless they're rude, but since I don't know anyone at this school, I mean it is really nice to meet all of you."

The group broke into a fit of laughter at her little rant, everyone knowing that she would have an easy time fitting in with their group. As the group's laughter died down, everyone took a good look at the pair standing in front of them; Caleb and Rachel, both with huge smiles on their faces. Everyone could see that they looked damn good together. The guys couldn't help but feel especially happy, considering that it took something really special to get a smile like the one on Caleb's face to actually appear. Rachel seemed to have no problem making the smile appear on his face.


	2. Guy Talk, Girl Talk

Imperfectly Mine

**Chapter Two: Guy Talk, Girl Talk**

After more personal introductions between Rachel and the Sons of Ipswich, Kate gave Pogue a kiss, linked her arm through Rachel's and headed toward their classes. Pogue watched his girlfriend leave while the other three watched the new girl who had just entered their lives. As the boys began heading to class, they realized they were one Son short.

"Caleb. Caleb. Caleb! Yo, Earth to Mr. Ascension, Reid just blew up the school with the power!" Caleb whipped around at the sound of Pogue's voice, ready to beat the crap out of Reid. The other three boys burst into laughter.

Pogue came over and gripped Caleb's shoulder, still chuckling. "Sorry to freak you out man, but you were so out of it watching the new girl that I figured I'd scare you back into reality. Plus, you always pay attention when one of us is using."

Caleb smiled in response, but he still couldn't help but watch Rachel walk away. She turned around, turned bright red after they caught each other staring, and led Kate as quickly as she down the corridor on the left.

Reid was the one who, surprisingly, responded to Caleb's action first. "You really like her don't you?"

Caleb finally turned back to stare at his friends. "I don't even know her." He led the group in the opposite direction towards their classes. "But I intend to get to know her."

The other three all smiled at the eldest of them, following in stride. Tyler ran up and put his hand on Caleb's shoulder. "So you're interested?"

The tone in Tyler's voice made Caleb chuckle. "And you and Reid weren't being dicks and talking about her all of class?"

Reid and Tyler looked more hurt than embarrassed. Reid smacked Caleb's arm, apparently getting chocked up over the rude insult. "We were merely discussing someone far more interesting than Shakespeare. And that's totally not the point, the point here is that you like her!"

Caleb looked shock; they all stopped walking when their jaws started dragging on the floor. "You mean…you're not going to fight me once again about how she totally wants you and that I don't even begin to have a chance in Hell?"

Reid rolled his eyes and kept walking. "I'm not that big of an asshole. I let up on Sarah didn't I?"

"Yeah but wasn't that after Caleb invited her to the Fall Festival, after he ascended, and finally after she moved back to Boston to take care of her dad?"

Reid scoffed. "Of course Master Parry has to be the ass to remember ever little detail." He ran a hand through his hair. "Look, I'm not an idiot. I---shut up!" All three boys burst out laughing at the idea of Reid not being an idiot. "Ok, I'm not a total idiot. Sarah was always just a joke; I knew she liked Caleb and all that. Am I not allowed to be the funny one out of the group?"

Tyler and Pogue were both about to retort back when Reid sent them glares and cut them off, staring intently at Caleb.

"Look, we all met Rachel about 6 minutes ago. You're already crazy about her, and she's already crazy about you. There's something special about her around you, all of us plus Kate saw it. So I guess this is my…blessing. Rachel Vaugier is all yours, Mr. Danvers. May you both be happy and prosperous, and may she finally take your virginity from you!"

The four Sons of Ipswich stopped dead in their tracks. Pogue and Tyler, as surprised as they were at Reid's outburst, still managed to burst out laughing. But Caleb only chuckled lightly and looked back at Reid.

"Thanks Reid. That means a lot more to me than you think." Caleb and Reid both nodded to each other, exchanged a brief but brotherly hug, then separated. Pogue and Tyler both burst into ridiculously fake tears, causing Reid and Caleb to roll their eyes.

"You both sound like two girls after Jack died in Titanic."

Pogue and Tyler went dead quite after the quip about being girls left Caleb's mouth. Tyler was too in shock to speak, which left it to Pogue. "Yeah well…at least we haven't seen a chick's movie!"

Caleb just laughed in their faces and began walking to class. "Excuse me for watching a movie and having every girl at this school love me for it."

The other three, pissed at exactly how right he was, just shook their heads and followed Mr. Perfect down the corridor.

* * *

Kate couldn't take it anymore. She gave Pogue a big kiss, linked her arm through Rachel's and led the way down the corridor away from the boys. Once she was sure they were out of earshot, Kate started talking at 90 miles a second. "You and Caleb are simply too cute to even be true!"

Rachel just glanced at her, confused. "What are you talking about?"

Kate just laughed off her confusion. "Oh come on girl. Caleb and you were absolutely glowing at each other. I mean, Caleb's usually a very happy guy and he's been with some nice girls who were good for him and all, but I have never seen him smile like that around anyone! He's not even that happy hanging out with the guys!" Kate noticed Rachel about to argue, so she decided to beat her to the punch. "I've never seen a girl smile so much around Caleb either, and that means truly something!"

Rachel had been fighting it the whole way down the corridor but she couldn't stop herself. She turned to look back at where the boys had been and felt all the air leave her body. Caleb was staring at her with that adorably perfect smile on his face. Rachel turned blood red and practically dragged Kate down the corridor on the left. Rachel let go of Kate's arm and pushed herself against a wall.

"He was smiling at me." Her smile grew as each word echoed in her mind. Even though she said that more to herself than the girl next to her, Kate still did her girlish scream and threw her arms around her.

"You guys are so perfect. Oh my God, you have no idea how happy this'll make all of us. We've been dying for Caleb to get with a great girl ever since his last girlfriend ended it at the end of school last year. I swear, I've never seen him like that. I mean, he's the biggest gentleman in the whole world, but he was like even more perfect around you! I can't believe it, I'm so happy."

Rachel's smile disappeared. "He seems perfect."

Kate kept smiling and began leading them back to class. "He really is. I mean, I love Pogue more than life, but Caleb is one of those all around perfect gentlemen type guys. Girls have been trying to get at him ever since things ended with Sarah, his ex."

Rachel knew Kate wasn't lying; she had seen the amount of girls staring at Caleb during their last class. She had been one of the girls herself.

Rachel was too eager to change the subject. "You and Pogue seem so cute together. How long has it been?"

Kate sighed with a huge smile on her face, obviously thinking about her beau. "A little over 2 years. He's so wonderful. I mean, he gets jealous so easily and we fight quite a bit, but it's like we get over it the next day and it never even happened. He makes me happy like nothing else…hey!" Kate playfully smacked her arm. "We're not talking about me and Pogue, we're talking about you and Caleb."

Rachel just sighed and walked a bit faster. "We just met Kate. It's not like anything is going to develop or anything."

Kate couldn't believe her ears. She grabbed Rachel's arm and made her look her in the eye. "Wait a minute, this is coming from the girl who was just turning into jelly because Caleb was staring at her. He was staring at you! He was staring at you while you were walking away from him! How can you honestly tell me that nothing is going to happen betw-"

Rachel just lightly smiled and kept walking. "It's just…past experiences and all that…I don't know guys and I never really seem to click." Rachel just laughed as she looked at Kate's face. "Oh please, not the pity look! It's not like I haven't dated or been with guys or anything like that, I've just dated a bunch of horrible guys that seemed perfect at the beginning. It's really no big deal."

Kate watched her new friend sympathetically for a while before bursting into a smile again. "Well, maybe Caleb's the one who'll break the bad guy streak. Because I can tell you right now, Caleb doesn't just seem perfect; he is perfect."

Rachel laughed and nodded before getting the topic back on Kate and Pogue. She listened as intently as she could to the cute story about how they met, but Rachel couldn't help thinking about Caleb. _There's no way. Don't even consider it Rach; it's not a possibility. He's too good for you: good-looking, sweet, an absolute gentleman. Don't do that to him. Don't you do it._

"Hey, before I forget to ask, the guys and I are going to our favorite hang-out tonight, Nicky's. Would you like to join? It's the best place around, half bar, half grill with a jukebox, foosball, tons of pool tables…"

Rachel got very interested at the mention of a pool table. "Pool tables? I love pool, my old guy friends and I used to play pool down at the garage we worked at when there weren't any cars to fix up."

Kate looked genuinely surprised. "You play pool and you know cars? The guys are going to go bonkers over you girl! You'll love Caleb's car, I love it and I don't know anything about cars at all. So you going to join us then?"

There were so many reasons not to. But Rachel just couldn't help it; Caleb would be there. "Ah what the Hell. Sure I'd love to go!"

Kate smiled and winked. "Good! Trust me, you'll love it, it's the best place to hang out in this whole town. It's so much fun!"

Rachel just smiled. While her brain was telling her it was wisest for her to stay away from the perfect guy she just met, her heart could barely wait to see him again.


	3. Prince Charming Knocking

Imperfectly Mine

**Chapter Three: Prince Charming Knocking**

"_Hey girl, took you long enough to answer your phone!"_ Rachel grimaced at Kate's overly bubbly attitude; Rachel couldn't even remotely picture Kate ever not being happy. She sat up in bed, yawning before turning her attention back to the girl on the other end of the phone.

"Hey, sorry Kate, I got in to my room after last class and I guess I must've dozed off." She yawned again and attempted to wake herself up by rubbing her eyes. "What's up?"

"_I just wanted to call and let you know that Pogue came and got me to take me out to a surprise dinner before he and I head to Nicky's so I'm actually not going to be able to give you lift tonight. But don't worry, I left a message on Caleb's phone to call you and give you a lift, but if he doesn't Tyler can definitely give you a lift._"

Rachel smiled as she heard Pogue and Kate laugh lightly in the background. "It's cool, I'll give Tyler a call and see if he can take me. It makes more sense for me to get a lift from him than to have Caleb drive all the way here just to pick me up."

Kate quickly interjected. _"But it'd be adorable if you and Caleb drove together!"_

Rachel chuckled; Kate sure was persistent. "But Tyler lives in the dorms. He's on the floor below me, it's much more accommodating for him-"

"But you and Caleb-" 

Rachel finally managed to cut Kate off for once. "Caleb and I will get a chance to talk at Nicky's Kate. We just met, we're going to be getting married soon or something."

"_But-" _Rachel burst out laughing as she heard Pogue joining the conversation, advising his girlfriend to stop before she makes Rachel go crazy. It seemed to work; Kate huffed a bit but didn't finish whatever she was going to say.

There was a quick knock at Rachel's door, although Rachel had no idea who it could be; she wasn't expecting anyone, and no one was going to Nicky's for a few hours. "Hey Kate, someone's at the door. Tell Pogue thanks for getting you to shut up!"

Kate huffed a bit but chuckled at the same time. _"Expecting someone yummy?"_

Rachel rolled her eyes. "Yes actually, I invited my Prince Charming to come over before I met all you guys at Nicky's. Bye Kate."

She hung up the phone and quickly jumped out of bed, heading to the door. She twisted the door handle, opened the door, and was suddenly out of breath.

"Hey, I hope I'm not interrupting anything or bothering you."

Rachel finally regained her brain and smiled. "No not at all, I just hung up with Kate. Please come on in." She quickly made room for him to enter the room.

"Wow I really like your room. Single room right?" Rachel nodded.

"Yeah, I'm sort of a neat freak and every time I've lived with a roommate, they seem to not get along with me too well. Plus, the only rooms they had left were singles."

"That works out pretty well then." He shuffled his feet slightly, chuckling. "Ok well, I'm stalling just a bit. I got a message from Kate saying that you needed a ride to Nicky's tonight, and I felt like getting out of the house, so I was wondering if I could take you on a little tour around town before heading to Nicky's. I mean, if you have something better to do or whatever that's totally cool or if you don't want to go-"

Rachel laughed and held up a hand to cut him off. "I'd love to. Let me grab my coat and we can head out."

Rachel opened her closet, silently cheering in her head and doing a mental victory dance at having such a cute guy escort her all over town. _He really is perfect. _

"Alright Mr. Danvers, lead the way!"

Caleb gave her a large smile and offered his arm to her. "Right this way Miss Vaugier."

After Rachel locked up her dorm and took Caleb's arm again, the two walked in silence down to Caleb's car. Rachel's gasp at her first viewing of his car broke the silence.

"You have an 05 Ford Mustang? Oh man, what a beauty." She let go of his arm, somewhat reluctantly, and walked all around the car. Caleb just stood, staring at her in amazement.

"You know cars?" Rachel looked up at him and tucked some hair behind her ear, almost as though she were embarrassed.

"Well, I used to work down at a garage with a bunch of buddies of mine, and after fixing up so many cars, I just got really good at identifying them and everything."

Caleb smiled and walked over to her at the passenger side of the car. He bent down slightly, opening her car door. "That's very awesome. I'm glad you like my car."

Rachel slid into the car after a brief smile before her legs turned to jelly at the gesture. Caleb quickly shut her door, jumped into the driver's seat and started heading away from the school. Rachel watched the scenery of her new school for a bit before turning her attention back to Caleb. "So where are we headed?"

"I thought we could head into town and just walk around." Caleb barely blushed enough for Rachel to notice. "When I was little, my mom and dad and I used to go take these really long walks in the woods behind our house. It was sort of a hobby we all developed, and ever since then, I've become kind of obsessed with just taking walks."

Rachel smiled at him. "That's really sweet. Whenever my parents and I got into an argument, I'd always just leave the house and go and take a long walk to the park down the street in our neighborhood. I'd sit on a swing and just rock myself for hours until I finally convinced myself to go home."

Caleb noticed a slight shift in her demeanor when she spoke of her parents. "Do you and your parents not getting along very well?"

"What makes you ask?" 

"Well, you said you whenever you guys argued, I wasn't quite sure what you meant be by that, but I figured arguing was really a good thing." 

"Oh." Rachel slightly chuckled. "No, we just argued quite a bit. Nothing major or anything."

Caleb knew it probably wasn't the best question to ask, but he couldn't really stop himself from asking it anyways. "Argued? As in past tense?"

Rachel nodded. "They died when I was 16. Car accident."

"Oh Rachel, I'm sorry."

Caleb noticed she started staring out the window, almost deep in thought. He wanted to ask her more, but he decided it wasn't the best time for it. He pulled into the local drug store and put his car in park. He and Rachel both headed out of the car, Caleb walking over to her and heading in a random direction.

Rachel chuckled. "You're not going to get me lost, are you Mr. Danvers?"

Caleb turned and looked at her in mock surprise. "I will have you know that it is impossible for me to get lost around." They both laughed at the looks on their faces; Caleb looked cocky, Rachel looked doubtful. "Nah, I've lived here my whole life. My family was actually one of the first five families to settle Ipswich."

Rachel seemed genuinely interested. "Really? That's so cool. Who are the other families, anyone I'd know?"

"Yeah actually. The Parrys, Garwins, and Simms are actually three of the other family, which obviously included Pogue, Reid, and Tyler. Last school year, we met the other family, but he mysteriously vanished before the school year ended. The police had him listed as a missing person, but they think he's more than likely dead now."

Rachel looked shock. "That's crazy. No wonder you guys are treated like royalty around school."

Caleb already knew he and the guys were well known by pretty much everyone at school, but he couldn't help but blush when Rachel mentioned it. "Yeah, most people refer to our group as the Sons of Ipswich." Caleb chuckled; the name was appropriate, but it had always amused him. "I'm surprised Kate hasn't mentioned it to you yet. She's always telling people about us and how she's dating one of the Sons of Ipswich."

Rachel smiled. "I like Kate. She's a very bubbly person, I can't honestly imagine her angry." Caleb laughed.

"If you want to talk about an angry Kate to anyone, definitely talk to Pogue. He's been on the receiving end of her anger quite a few times in the past."

"Yeah, Kate mentioned he gets jealous and they fight quite a bit. They seem so cute together though. Every time he's mentioned, she seems to light up like a firecracker or something. She's crazy about him."

Caleb grinned. "Yeah, they're great together. She manages to keep Pogue under control. He's one of the greatest guys I know, but man…he sure is hotheaded. He gets angry over the stupidest stuff and he blows most of it way out of proportion. Kate manages to keep him calm most of the time. He's completely crazy about her too."

Rachel crossed her arms over her chest, pulling her jacket closer to her. Caleb noticed and already began to remove his jacket. Rachel just laughed, slapping his arm.

"Don't take your jacket off, I'm fine!" A gust of wind happened to blow past the two, causing Rachel to involuntarily shiver. Caleb just laughed at her, draping his jacket over her arms.

"Yeah, I can tell you're fine. You know, Rach, you're a horrible liar." Rachel looked at him as he called her Rach, causing Caleb to become slightly worried. "Sorry, the whole Rach thing just slipped out." 

Rachel smiled. "No, no, it's cute. I've actually never had anyone call me Rach. It's just always been Rachel. Rach." She seemed to be trying it on, and Caleb watched her intently, a cute grin covering her face as she repeated it multiple times in multiple different accents. "Rach…Rach…I like it!"

Caleb laughed and lightly nudged her. "Well I'm glad." He checked his watch, deciding it was time to start heading back to the car. "We'd better head back to the car if we want to make it to Nicky's on time."

As they turned around, Rachel stopped and grinned at Caleb. As he turned to look at her, she took off running past him, shouting to him over her shoulder. "Come on slooooooow poke!"

Caleb just grinned and ran after her, slowly but surely catching up to her. He finally reached her when the car became visible. As he reached her, he nudged her waist from behind, causing her to shriek with laughter. "Ah, I've found your ticklish spot!"

Rachel just shrieked and ran faster as he moved to tickle her again. They both reached the car out of breath, Rachel jumping into the car to avoid any more tickling. Caleb hopped into the driver's seat, breathing heavily and laughing at her.

Rachel smacked his arm and pointed a finger in his face. "You are not allowed to tell anyone about my ticklish spot. I don't know why, but my hips are the only ticklish spot on my body. Guys usually take that as a reason to grope the hell out of me too." She said it with laughter in her voice, but Caleb could tell she'd had a bad experience with her ticklish spot.

Caleb just grabbed her finger and wiggled it back at her. "It's our little secret, I promise." They smiled again at each other before Caleb started the car. "Let's get out of here and get to Nicky's."

The car ride to Nicky's was completely silent, but to Caleb and Rachel it wasn't an awkward silence. They were just sitting comfortably together, and no words were needed. It was already dark by the time they reached Nicky's. Caleb parked in a spot towards the back, right next to Tyler's Hummer and Pogue's yellow bike.

Rachel began undoing her seat belt once Caleb shut the engine off, and before she could completely undo her seat belt, Caleb was already out of the car. Assuming he'd seen someone he knew and wanted to say hi, she just shrugged it off and began to exit the car. Just as she reached for the door handle, her door opened for her and the hand reaching for the handle was now filled with Caleb's hand.

"Welcome to Nicky's." Caleb helped her out of the car and shut her door for her.

Rachel looked at the bar with a smile on her face. It looked amazing, even from the outside. She couldn't wait to see the inside, but she was suddenly very self-conscious about what she was dressed in. She didn't want to ask Caleb how she looked; she always felt that was just a way to fish for compliments. Thankfully for Rachel, she didn't even have to ask.

Caleb quickly looked her over and smiled. "You look great." Rachel smiled, suddenly feeling better about her choice of light blue jeans, black polo, and her favorite high heels.

"I feel so simplistic."

Caleb just laughed and started walking with her towards the bar. As they reached the door, Caleb moved ahead of her and held the door open. As she passed him by and entered the bar, she felt him come up behind her and slightly to her left. "Simplistic is something only beauty can pull off. Welcome to Nicky's."

As Caleb led her over to the table where everyone was waiting, Rachel realized she had never felt more beautiful in all her life.


	4. Time and Comfort

Imperfectly Mine

**Chapter Four: Time and Comfort**

Rachel couldn't breath. Her stomach was cramping horribly, her eyes were watering, and she couldn't catch her breath. She threw her head back and screamed. She couldn't stop herself; the story Caleb was telling was so funny she just couldn't stop herself from laughing.

"So then Reid, being the thick-head he is, just couldn't stop himself I guess. He just stared at Pogue right in the eye, did the classic eyebrow raise, and of course triple-dog dared him. And of course, instead of using the bit of common sense he supposedly has, he just told Reid to go screw himself and started crawling head first though the railing of my stairs!" Caleb, Rachel, and Kate were dying laugh while Pogue just sat there, arms folded across his chest, pouting. "So of course, Reid has to outdo him, and I was trying to stop them because I knew Mom would get pissed if we ruined the railing, but they just kept going, and Reid caught up right as their hips got to the railing and POW! They both got stuck and started freaking out. They were cussing the hell out of each other and everything!"

Pogue just sat up and glared at Caleb. "We weren't that bad!"

Caleb just laughed hard, as did the girls. "You guys were brilliant up to that point. Tyler still hadn't come into play. See..." He ignored Pogue's protests not to tell his girlfriend and Rachel what happened next. "Tyler had been in the bathroom while all this was going on. Well he came strolling down the stairs…"

Rachel and Kate both groaned but laughed harder.

"And he somehow didn't hear Pogue or Reid screaming at each other or me yelling at them or any of the noise we were making. So he walks down, holding on to the railing, trips over Reid, and falls butt first onto Pogue! So now Pogue freaks out and pushes Tyler off of him as fast as he could, and ends up throwing his hand backwards and successfully gets his left hand caught in the smaller open at the top of the railing!"

Caleb, Rachel, and Kate lost it. Kate nearly fell off her chair with laughter while Caleb and Rachel were both in tears. Pogue, positively pissed at his friend for telling such an embarrassing story, glared as hard as he could at Caleb and sat back, steaming. Kate leaned over and gave him a kiss, still laughing her ass off.

"What's so damn funny over here?" Reid had just finished a game of foosball when he ventured over after hearing all the commotion, Tyler following behind him.

Pogue, still pissed off, sent them a quick look and returned to glaring at Caleb. "He told the story about us getting caught in the railing and Tyler falling on us!"

Reid and Tyler both joined Pogue in glaring at Caleb. Reid began throwing a fit. "Must you tell every single good looking girl that story?!"

Rachel and Kate looked at each other and laughed. Rachel finally managed to hold back her laughter long enough to respond. "Aw, but you guys sound so silly!" She turned to look at Caleb. "So how exactly did they get out of there?"

Pogue, Reid, and Tyler froze up, all realizing they couldn't explain how'd they gotten out without the girls freaking out; Caleb had eventually used and managed to get them out of the railing. While they were busy trying to come up with a good lie, Caleb smiled and spoke for them.

"After a lot of wiggling and a lot of pushing and pulling. Thankfully, they weren't that stuck in there, so Tyler and I just kept pushing and they eventually slipped out. It's still one of the best things I've ever seen in my life."

They all burst into laughter again, Reid, Tyler, and Pogue thinking in vain of a way to change the topic. Reid looked around and gasped, jumping up and down.

"Pool table's open, pool table's open! Come on, someone play me!" Tyler groaned, unwilling to get his ass kicked again. Caleb smiled and leaned over, resting a hand on the back of Rachel's chair.

"Rach, why don't you give it a shot? Reid's good, but I think it's about time a good-looking girl kicked his ass and put him back in his place." Reid glared at Caleb, then stared at Rachel, a challenging look in his eye.

"Aw, but I don't want 'Rach' to feel bad about losing on the first day we met her!" Rachel just laughed, standing up and taking the pool stick from Reid, leaning close to him.

"Not smart enough to come up with your own nickname for the girl who's going to kick your ass?" Reid just grinned and followed her over to the tables.

Tyler quickly headed over to the tables while Caleb, Pogue, and Kate stayed behind, knowing there would definitely be more than one game. Kate looked at Caleb with a huge smile on her face. "You guys are so perfect together!"

Caleb just laughed, rubbing a hand through his short hair. "She is great, but I mean come on Kate, we just met today. It's not like we're getting married or anything like that." 

Kate shrieked, causing both of the guys to jump in their seats. "That's exactly what she said on the phone with me earlier! I was talking about how adorable you guys are and she said that you guys aren't getting married either! It's fate Caleb, come on, you have to see it, I know you both do!"

Pogue nodded his head. "I do agree with her man. You guys look great together, you guys act great together, you guys are great together. Hell, she's more your type than anyone, including Sarah." Pogue was the only one who was willing to bring Sarah up, even though Caleb had no problem discussing her. It had been months since she'd moved back to Boston to take care of her dad, who had just recently developed lung cancer. "Come on Caleb, don't be stupid. Reid gave you his blessing for crying out loud, that means something! We all know you like Rachel, and it's easy to see she's just as crazy about you!" 

Caleb just sighed. "Guys, we literally just met hours ago! I barely know her. She barely knows me. Maybe something'll happen in the future, that's totally fine with me. I'd be thrilled to get the chance to be with someone as great as Rach is. But you guys really need to realize that we just met. Sarah and I had just met and then we just started dating like that. Then the whole Chase thing happened…" 

Kate hesitantly cut him off. "But Chase is gone, it's not like that'll happen again."

Caleb nodded. "I know, but Sarah was suddenly thrust into handling everything about us. She'd never admit to it, but I know it was hard for her. She'd just met me, she barely knew anything about me, and suddenly I had powers and the Sons of Ipswich wasn't just a name for us. She handled it better than I thought, but it was still hard for her. I'd much rather Rach know about the real me before she looks at me and sees me as someone really different."

Pogue looked at his friend with sympathy, as did Kate. "Caleb…you know Sarah didn't see you as diff-"

"No I didn't mean it like that. Sarah was amazing, but I know she always saw that part of me as different, even if she didn't mean to. I could see it every time I looked at her. I always felt so guilty that she had to carry that burden, and I'm in no rush to push it on Rachel."

Pogue and Kate nodded, although Kate wasn't willing to just roll over and die. "But if you guys are together, it doesn't mean you have to tell her. Pogue and I were together for over a year and he never told me, and we survived it."

Caleb nodded. "True, but you also knew everything else about Pogue. How would you have handled it if you had just met him and that was one of the first things you knew about him?"

Kate stayed silent, knowing she would've handled it much differently.

Pogue sighed, wishing he could change his friend's mind. "Rachel could handle it. She's strong, she'd never look at it like that."

Caleb nodded again, staring over at Rachel and smiling. "I don't think she would either. But I'm really not ready or willing to run that risk. I want to get to know her, and I want her to get to know the real me."

Kate and Pogue remained silent, knowing Caleb had good reasons for not pursuing the amazing girl playing pool just yet. Pogue had to smile inside; he knew Caleb well, and he knew this wasn't the end of it. Given time, he knew in his heart his friend would be with Rachel.

After sitting in silence for a little while longer, Tyler came running over with a huge grin on his face. "Guys, you've got to come watch! Reid and Rachel are playing best two out of three and they're tied in the third game!"

Caleb immediately jumped out of his chair and nearly ran to the pool tables with Tyler, Pogue, and Kate trailing behind him. It was indeed an intense game; according to Tyler, Reid had beat Rachel in the first game by one ball, and then Rachel had beat him in the second game by sinking the 8 ball. They were currently tied, each having two balls out plus the 8 ball.

Reid headed up to make a shot and, despite the fact that he almost made one of Rachel's solid balls in, he thankfully sunk one of his striped balls in the corner pocket. He missed his ball on his second turn and regrettably set Rachel up with a perfect shot.

Rachel quickly made her shot and sunk her ball in one of the side pockets. She took her time setting up her next shot, causing Reid to secretly begin to panic. She smoothly made contact with the cue ball, which went sailing towards her red 3-ball and pushed it straight into a pocket.

Reid cussed out loud which caused Rachel to smile. She quickly chalked up her stick, nervous about her next shot, knowing it could potentially end the game. Reid was nearly strangling his pool stick; everyone was on edge, knowing that this game meant life or death in Reid's opinion.

Rachel lined up her shot, but she ended up coming off slightly to the left of the 8-ball. Reid grinned and moved to line up his shot, effortlessly nailing his striped ball with the cue ball. It quickly sailed into the pocket, leaving only the 8 ball left.

Reid secretly rubbed his hands on his jeans, quickly removing the sweat that had began to creep up on him during the game. He sighed and moved to line up his shot, secretly nervous but giving off a confident vibe on the outside.

Reid's shot missed the 8 ball by less than inch, causing more cussing from him and a quick smile from Rachel. She moved in to line up her shot, completely confident she would never make it, no matter how easy a shot it would be. She shut her eyes for a moment, bracing herself to accept missing the next shot, and when she opened her eyes, she smiled in spite of her doubt.

Caleb was standing across the way, leaning on a pool table with his arms crossed, staring at her with a huge smile on his face. He winked at her once he caught her eye and quickly mouthed something to her, which Rachel could easily make out. "Kick his ass Rach."

Rachel smiled and took a deep breath, reluctantly breaking her eye contact with Caleb and focusing back on her shot. She lined up the cue ball with the 8 ball and gracefully made her shot.

The cue ball sailed straight for the 8 ball, smacking head on and pushing it straight into the corner pocket…the exact pocket Rachel had called.

Everyone within the group started clapping and hollering for Rachel. Reid gave a defeated sigh with a smile on his face and moved to shake her hand. "Great game, I have to admit."

Rachel just stared at his hand, raised an eyebrow and gave him a big hug. Reid, shocked for only a moment, smiled and responded, wrapping his arms around her for a moment. Rachel pulled back and smiled, lightly punching his forearm. "You're a hell of a pool player."

Reid smiled and nodded, knowing she had been the one who deserved to win.

Kate ran over and gave Rachel a big hug, followed by Pogue running over and grabbing her, spinning her around while he and Tyler chanted and hollered about Reid's defeat. Pogue finally released her and headed over with Tyler to mock Reid to no end. Reid took the mocking with honor, knowing that while he lost to a worthy opponent, he could whoop her ass any other day.

Caleb approached Rachel and grinned. "You're one good pool player."

Rachel smiled and pushed her hair behind her ear. "Thanks. I seriously thought he had me, he's one great pool player."

Caleb laughed and glanced at his friend. "Yeah that's usually all he and Tyler do when they come here. They can beat pretty much anyone at this place." 

Rachel raised an eyebrow and smirked. "Even you Mr. Danvers."

Caleb chuckled and blushed slightly. "Sadly, especially me. I'm pretty much the worse pool player in this joint. I guess the pool playing gene skips a generation for the Danvers."

"Well that just means your kids will be able to beat Reid's."

Caleb laughed and put his hand on the small of Rachel's back, leading her back to the table and ordering two Cokes from Nicky.

Reid and everyone else were silently watching the two, the previous pool game already forgotten. "Ok what exactly is going on between them two? Are the together yet?" 

Kate sighed and shook her head. "No, they both think it's way too early. After all they just 'met'." She finished the 'met' with air quotes, causing Pogue to laugh and kiss her cheek.

"Hun, you only do air quotes with something isn't true. After all, they did in fact just meet." Kate just glared at her boyfriend but quickly shot him a smile. "Caleb and Rachel both say it's way too early, which does make sense, considering that fact they did just meet."

Tyler shook his head. "But they do like each other right?"

Pogue nodded vigorously. "Definitely. Each time Kate or I brought it up, neither came out and denied that they had feelings for each other. They both just said it was too soon."

Reid sighed. "So what do we do now?"

Kate gave them all a tiny smile and a shrug. "We just wait for them to come together on their own."

"So, I totally think they're talking about us over there." Rachel smiled and took a quick drink of her Coke while Caleb glanced at his friends. 

"Yeah I'm sorry about how annoying they are. I love them all more than anything, but sometimes I feel like they act like I'm the baby and they have to take care of me, you know?"

Rachel nodded, running a hand through her hair. "That's what friends tend to do." She took another sip of her Coke. "Do they have a reason to worry about you?"

Caleb sighed and took a swig of his Coke. "Well, my last girlfriend, Sarah, and I broke up at the end of last year. Her dad got diagnosed with lung cancer, so she had to go back to Boston to help take care of him. We both thought it'd be best to just end it instead of worrying about a long distance relationship and all that."

Rachel nodded, feeling sorry to hear about Caleb's previous relationship, but not feeling as sorry as she knew she should've.

Caleb picked up before she could interject, not wanting her to think something that wasn't true. "For some reason, it didn't really affect me like I thought it should. I miss her, of course, she was an amazing girl. But it felt like it was…right to end it, I guess. We keep in touch, and we're still really close. I adore her, she's a great friend to have and to count on, but I'm not upset that we aren't something more than that anymore. She's moved on and met another guy, and I'm completely happy for her. But none of the guys seem to believe me. Pogue's starting to get it, but everyone else seems to think that I'm lost without her."

Rachel looked over at Caleb's guys and smiled. They were great guys to have, and she couldn't blame him for having them around.

Caleb just waved a hand and chuckled. "They think if I get with someone else that I'll be cured or something. But I'm actually happy. I mean, if something happens with someone, that's great. But I…" Caleb paused, searching for the right words.

Rachel looked at her Coke and swirled her straw around. "Don't want to rush it."

Caleb looked at her and nodded. "Exactly." He laughed and took another swig of Coke. "I feel like an idiot, I haven't even asked you about your love life. Are you seeing anyone or anything?"

Rachel laughed and played with her hair. "No, not at all. My last boyfriend and I…well I mean, we were together for a few months, but…it just ended."

Caleb leaned closer onto the table, noticing a change in Rachel that he couldn't put his finger on. "Why'd it end?"

Pogue, Kate, Reid, and Tyler came over, noticing the exchange between the two and quickly grabbing their coats. Pogue leaned closer to them, trying to keep their conversation brief. "Kate and I are heading to my place and Reid and Tyler are heading to the dorms. Give the lady a lift home."

Caleb nodded, still staring at Rachel as the others headed to the door.

Rachel said bye to everyone, quickly grabbing her coat. "We'd better get back too." She quickly headed to the door, leaving Caleb sitting at the table for a moment before quickly grabbing his coat and following her to the parking lot.

"Rachel." Thankfully the parking lot was empty. Rachel kept walking away from Caleb, heading toward the car. "Rachel. Rach!" Caleb jogged, quickly catching up to her and stopping in front of her. Rachel tried to go around, but Caleb stayed firm and gently held her arm. "What just happened?"

Rachel just shook her head. "Nothing, I just want to go back to the dorms." Rachel tried to get past him again.

Caleb shook his head, refusing to let go. "If it's nothing, then look at me and tell me it's nothing."

Rachel just shook her head, pulling harder to get away. "Caleb, just let it go!"

Caleb put his hand on her cheek but didn't force her to look at him. "Rachel, why did your last relationship end?"

Rachel looked at him, a look of hurt crossing her eyes, causing Caleb to want to use his power to make the whole world disappear.

"It's nothing, just drop it."

"Rachel no!" She looked shock at the sternness of his voice. "I'm not just going to drop something that's obviously hurting you. Talk to me."

Rachel just sighed and looked away, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. "We'd been together for a few months, he wanted something I wasn't ready to give him, and so he got it else where."

Caleb stared at her, having a good idea what she was talking about but not wanting to assume. "What are you talking about?"

Rachel just stared at him and shrugged. "He wanted to have sex, I said I wasn't ready. I went to meet him at his place one night, he was in bed with a friend of mine."

Caleb's mouth dropped. Rachel just gave a little laugh and closed her eyes again, sighing. "I wasn't that crazy about him really, but it still hurt you know? It just felt like I wasn't good enough for him. I mean, I was nowhere near ready to have sex with him or anyone for that matter, but I still don't see why he couldn't just break it off with me first. It wouldn't have bothered me if he had done that."

Caleb nodded, unsure of what to say. He just shook his head and pulled her to his chest, wrapping his arms around her and resting his chin on top of her head. Rachel tensed for a moment, surprised by his sudden move. She quickly relaxed and sighed, burying herself in his chest and arms.

They stayed in the parking lot for a while, just standing and hugging. Caleb finally moved to pull away, startled by the fact that Rachel wouldn't release him. "I feel comfortable here."

Caleb just laughed and wrapped his arm around her again, feeling very comfortable where they were as well. They looked at each other, smiling and finally releasing each other. They headed to the car and drove back to the dorms, smiling and laughing the whole time.


End file.
